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Gomery was biased in report, judge rules

A Federal Court ruling has blasted the biased musings of Judge John Gomery during the sponsorship inquiry and cleared former prime minister Jean Chrétien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, of any blame in the affair.

OTTAWA–A Federal Court ruling has blasted the biased musings of Judge John Gomery during the sponsorship inquiry and cleared former prime minister Jean Chrétien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, of any blame in the affair.

In a judgment that strips out a key finding of the final sponsorship report, Justice Max Teitelbaum agreed with Chrétien and Pelletier's lawyers that Gomery was "seduced by the media" and showed an unacceptable bias against them even before he'd heard their testimony.

"The nature of the comments made to the media are such that no reasonable person looking realistically and practically at the issue, and thinking the matter through, could possibly conclude that the commissioner would decide the issues fairly," Teitelbaum said.

The Federal Court judge agreed Gomery "became preoccupied with ensuring that the spotlight of the media remained on the Commission's inquiry, and he went to great lengths to ensure that the public's interest in the Commission did not wane."

"This preoccupation with the media outside the hearing room had a detrimental impact on the fairness of the proceedings.''

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The Federal Court said Chrétien and Pelletier didn't get a fair hearing as a result, so it set aside Gomery's politically damaging conclusion that they were to be "blamed for omissions" in oversight of the scheme and shared blame for its mismanagement.

Chrétien, in Stockholm chairing a conference of former national leaders, was jubilant after winning the legal challenge he launched in late 2005.

"This is excellent news," Chrétien told his executive assistant, Bruce Hartley. The former prime minister, who left office in December 2003, was unavailable for media interviews yesterday.

Long-time adviser and former aide Eddie Goldenberg said Chrétien is "obviously very gratified and very happy."

"It's a total vindication of Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Pelletier," Goldenberg told a news conference called on Chrétien's behalf.

In the end, the Gomery inquiry found about $100 million of the $250 million program to boost the federal government's profile in Quebec was funnelled through Liberal-friendly advertising and communications firms, with some funds being diverted back into Liberal party coffers.

While Gomery's report, released in November 2005, said there was no evidence either Chrétien or Pelletier was "in any way" involved in the political kickback scheme, his findings were damning and led to the Liberal party's plunge in Quebec and the 2006 electoral defeat.

Goldenberg said the $50 million or so spent on the Gomery inquiry "wasn't wasted money, it was badly spent money," which, due to Gomery's "love of sensationalism and of headlines ..., created great damage to our public institutions.

"It augmented cynicism about public life in general, it hurt the cause, fortunately just temporarily, of Canadian unity in Quebec" and, Goldenberg added, unfairly damaged the Liberal Party of Canada.

Goldenberg said the scandal was limited to two or three "very minor organizers" for the party.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office yesterday referred all comment yesterday to MP Jason Kenney, who said the government is "closely reviewing" the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

"Everyone deserves objectivity and impartiality and basic fairness, and Canadians deserve basic fairness when it comes to someone taking political responsibility for this scam that benefited the Liberal party and people close to Mr. Chrétien," said Kenney.

He said Chrétien's refusal to take "ultimate political responsibility" is "hard to swallow."

Gomery, who retired from the Quebec Superior Court in August 2007, told Radio-Canada in Montreal "it is not pleasant to read about the mistakes that you have made or might have made."

Gomery said it was "particularly disappointing" to be characterized as a judge who showed bias.

"I always thought that I was an unbiased judge," he said, adding he hoped the Attorney General of Canada would appeal.

But Teitelbaum's ruling said Gomery's protestations at the time, that he kept an open mind, did not make up for the impression left by his ill-tempered remarks, most striking of which was Gomery's slagging of Chrétien's autographed golf balls. Gomery told a newspaper, "It's such a disappointment that the prime minister would put his name on golf balls. That's really small-town cheap, you know, free golf balls."

Teitelbaum was scathing in his ruling.

"Not only was this remark a personal insult directed at the Applicant (Chrétien) and his background, but it suggests that the Commissioner (Gomery) had come to the conclusion that (Chrétien) had acted improperly even before (he) appeared before the Commission to give his evidence."

Liberal Senator Jim Munson, Chrétien's onetime communications director, said yesterday it was the "small town cheap" comment by Gomery that really angered Chrétien, and was the "straw that broke the camel's back."

But Chrétien's lawyer Peter Doody said it was Gomery's conclusion that Chrétien had deliberately set up the scheme to run out of his office and to be run by Pelletier as if he were a minister.

Doody said it was "simply not true. That is wrong, there is no foundation in evidence" for that finding which damaged Chrétien's reputation.

Goldenberg made clear that he and Chrétien's inner circle still blame former prime minister Paul Martin for calling the inquiry, naming Gomery and firing Pelletier, who is now in very poor health as a result of the scandal, he said.

"I would hope that Mr. Martin would show the grace that we know he has and the class that we know he has and some simple decency and apologize publicly to Mr. Pelletier," said Goldenberg.

Martin dismissed Pelletier as head of VIA Rail in March 2004 after he made remarks to a Montreal newspaper about ex-Olympic gold medallist Myriam Bédard.

She alleged Pelletier played a key role in firing her from a marketing job at VIA.

A source close to Martin said yesterday in an email Martin will "not be commenting either today or in the future."

He said the auditor general's reports, first in 2003, and then in 2005, raised "very serious concerns of wrongdoing. Criminal charges were laid. And public money was misdirected."

"Mr. Martin felt then and continues to feel today that whatever the political consequences, a judicial inquiry was required to provide Canadians with answers.

"He stands by that decision unreservedly. Just as he respects the right of any individuals to exercise their own legal options as we've seen today."

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